Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

DVD Cover (Anchor Bay 20th Anniversary Edition)

6.3

/ 10

19 votes

Movie Connections:
Hellraiser Hellraiser (1987) Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth (1992) Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996) Hellraiser: Inferno (2000) Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002) Hellraiser: Deader (2005) Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)

Genres:
Horror, Sex Horror, Supernatural Horror
Director:
	Tony Randel
Starring:
	Ashley Laurence
	Imogen Boorman
	Kenneth Cranham
	William Hope
	Doug Bradley

Review by bluemeanie
Added: August 17, 2005

Tony Randel takes up where Clive Barker left off and delivers likely the best entry in the entire series. The stakes are higher -- the budget is larger, the story is more involved, and the pay-off has to really be something special. It most certainly is. "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" is one of the most creative and visually awe inspiring fantasy/horror films ever made, and bests the original by leaps and bounds.

We find Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) in a mental institution after the events that took the life of her father and introduced her to the Cenobites. However, her sadistic stepmother Julia (Clare Higgins) has found a way back and has incorporated the help of the institutes primary physician to help bring her back to life, much in the same way she helped bring Frank back to life in the original. The doctor himself has been searching for a doorway to hell for years. Kirsty's goal becomes going to hell to save her father's soul, and she enlists the assistance of an autistic girl who is quite handy with puzzle boxes. At the end of the film, we get an amazing showdown between the Cenobites and the newest entry into hell.

This is a horror film, action film, drama, and fantasy epic all rolled into one. The gore level is higher than the original, but so is the creativity. The make-up effects are astounding, especially when the good doctor becomes a Cenobite at the end of the film. I just cannot say enough about this film. It is so rare when a sequel outperforms the original, but "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" does just that. It is one of my all-time favorite horror films and one of the most original horror films in recent memory. 9/10.

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#1: crAckerr - added 08/17/2005, 06:25 PM
i watched this movie a long time ago when i was about 12 or 13..
it bored the shit outta me but after skimming through your movie review, i may give it another try

#2: Ginose - added 11/09/2005, 07:04 PM
This is a damn good movie. Much better then the original and almost the best of the series. It didn't make as much sense as much as 1 or 3, but it still rocked the jazz-ass. Then again, I haven't seen Deader or Hellworld yet... but from what I read here they both preety much suck... Anyway, watch this one.

#3: Tristan - added 02/21/2009, 09:55 PM
Nowhere near as good as the first one. It seemed like it was going to be really good, then the last 25 minutes or so completely blew it.

6/10

#4: Lucid Dreams - added 09/30/2009, 11:08 PM
Just watched this after so many years. Tony Randel did an alright job with this one, but I feel it would have been much better if Clive Barker did it. Either way it was a good movie and they should have stopped here. 7/10

#5: Optimus Prime - added 10/09/2009, 04:15 PM
It got way to wacky towards the end. I really didn't care about Pinhead's past and the film put too much emphasis on it... it still was good for most of it. 7/10.

#6: 385 - added 01/04/2011, 04:33 PM
Really? The story was so shallow compared to last time, and the finale was ridiculously corny. Also, I hated how they weakened the cenobites this time.